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Sunday, 2 June 2019

Hanworth parkrun

Hanworth is a district in west London with a population of around 23,000 people. The name is thought to have come from the Anglo-Saxon words 'haen' or 'han' and 'worth' and means 'small homestead'. Over the centuries it has had various variants used including Haneworde, Hanewrthe and Haneworth. The Manor of Hanworth was held by various people and families from around 1000bc until in 1512 it came to the Crown. Henry VIII used the original manor house as a hunting lodge before being granted to Anne Boleyn and subsequently to Katherine Parr. It was also home to Princess Elizabeth, who is said to have stayed at the house on occasion after becoming Queen. It is thought the park grounds were laid out during the 16th century.

The manor house burnt down in 1797 and its replacement was built five years later just a short distance to the north. The new house was called Hanworth Park House. In the early 20th century the house was used as a military hospital during the First World War. The estate was then bought by John Alexander Whitehead and created an aerodrome called London Air Park, which was also known as Hanworth Air Park. Hanworth Park House became the aerodrome's clubhouse and many lavish society events were held here, including aerial tea parties, air pageants and races. The airfield itself is famous for being visited by the Graf Zeppelin on two occasions and as the landing place for Amelia Earhart who flew into Hanworth a couple of days after becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.


With Heathrow airport nearby and expanding, the Air Park was eventually forced to close. The land was bought by the local authorities and turned into a 52 hectare park in 1959. The Grade II Listed house was used as a residential care home from the 1950s until the 1990s. It then sat neglected and unoccupied (and fenced off) within a wooded area in the centre of the park for 30 years. In 2024 planning permission was granted by the Mayor of London for a new development which would include a complete renovation of the house. The park itself is still going strong and is largely made up of open fields of scrubland with intersecting grass pathways. Some of the land is now part of Feltham Community College and there is a leisure centre on the eastern border. There are some sports fields and a children's playground. In May 2019 the park became home to a free, weekly, timed, volunteer-led 5 kilometre event called Hanworth parkrun.

We first visited the park on 1 June 2019 to take part in event 5 and I hope to revisit soon. This write-up is largely the original 2019 text but I have brought it up-to-date as of 2026. The photos are from my 2019 visit.

The main parking area is at the Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre and Library. I found it very difficult to find accurate first-hand information about the car parking payment system. The arrangement seems to be; between 08:30 and 16:30, Monday to Friday there is a four hour parking limit of which the first three hours are free-of-charge, however you must use the PayByPhone app to register your vehicle, even if you are not paying. On weekends the arrangement appears to be that vehicles can park for free and that there is no maximum stay. If the main car park feels too complicated, it is also possible to park for free on most of the side streets. The closest to the meeting point is Forest Road, adjacent to the park's west corner. Many of the residential streets to the north or east of the park are also free of restrictions, but some of these are also close to Crane Park so may be in high demand for visitors to the adjacent Crane parkrun. 


If travelling by public transport, Feltham is the closest train station and is served by South Western Railway trains running between London Waterloo and Weybridge or Windsor and Eton Riverside. The onward journey to the park is just under 1 mile on-foot. The area is not particularly well covered by the London Underground, but it is possible to take the Piccadilly Line to Hatton Cross Underground and then take the 490 bus to Hanworth Park. Other buses that also stop outside the park are the 285, 11 and the H25. The closest bicycle parking can be found in the Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre.

Should an overnight stay be required the closest cluster of hotels is adjacent to Feltham Station where there are a number of independent options plus a Sleepcity and a Travelodge. The closest Premier Inn is their London Twickenham branch which is 2 miles away and the 490 bus connects it to Hanworth Park. The adjacent Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre and Library has toilets which can be used by those attending the parkrun. The parkrun meeting point and start of the event is near Hanworth Park House, but it is hidden by the trees that surround it, so it's not much use as a visual guide. If arriving from the direction of the leisure centre the finish area is passed on the way to the meeting point. 


This is a clockwise two-and-a-bit lap course with a mixture of grass and gravelly paths underfoot. Being a former airfield means it's totally flat, so it's a decent option for anyone looking to challenge their best 5k effort. As far as footwear is concerned, regular road shoes will be absolutely fine in dry conditions. My understanding is that some sections can get pretty muddy in the winter or after prolonged wet conditions, so trail shoes are likely to be useful at those times. It is fine to participate with a dog or buggy. I wouldn't put it at the top of my list for wheelchair users, but I reckon in dry conditions it would be possible to go around.

The lap starts on grass but changes to gravel along the north-eastern section of the course - interestingly this section runs along the line of Longford River which is now underground, having been covered during the park's time as an airfield. The funny thing is that it's not a real river at all. It was constructed in 1638/39 in order to route water from the River Colne all the way to Hampton Court and Bushy Park to feed their water features. Watch out for the raised metal plates in the centre of the path which could easily cause someone to trip. Also, at the end of this path you are at the most easterly point of the route. At this spot you are only 800 metres south of the closest point of Crane parkrun's course.


The route continues on the same surface all the way along the eastern side where it meanders gently with long grass to either side. Looking across the park I was imagining what it must have been like to witness the 236 metre long Graf Zeppelin landing on this very spot (actually, I didn't have to use too much imagination as there are videos on YouTube - check out this one which has sound). There's a short trip across grass adjacent to the Feltham Rugby Club clubhouse followed by a short section of smooth tarmac alongside the playground. St. George's Church is now in full view - there has been a church on this site since at least the fourteenth century and it was a place of worship for the royal family during their time at Hanworth.

The tarmac soon comes to an end and the gravelly path returns for the section around the western border. If you are looking carefully you might spot part of Hanworth Park House poking above the tree-line. It's also a great spot for spotting planes on their final approach into Heathrow Airport. The course had arrows and marshals in all the right places so there was no risk of taking a wrong turn. It's back onto grass as the lap returns to the original starting point. I should note that the grass here has quite a few potholes so keep an eye out for them. After two full laps, there's around 400 metres left until the finish. Barcode scanning takes place on the grass next to the finish line.


On my first visit I had the kids with me (one in the running buggy and one alongside me) and it was a pretty hot morning, so we took it nice and easy. We spent a bit of time at the finish line chatting to other participants and volunteers. A return visit is planned to take place at some point. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be viewed on Strava. There's also a Relive course video which I have added to my YouTube account.

In terms of attendance figures, this is a fairly small close-knit community event. A typical week would very likely have less than 100 participants in attendance with the general range being anywhere between 60 and 120. There are usually around 20-25 credited volunteers. For the record, on my first visit on 1 June 2019 at event 5 there were 120 participants. The full history of the attendances can be found on the Hanworth parkrun results history page.


As for cancellations, Hanworth parkrun has been cancelled for a number of reasons over the years, but they are largely related to the underfoot conditions such as a waterlogged / boggy course, or for frozen and slippery paths. However the event has been cancelled for stormy conditions with high winds and also in heatwave conditions as the lack of shade around the course may affect the wellbeing of both participants and volunteers. As a mark of respect, there was also a cancellation in 2024 following the pre-meditated murder of a local youngster in the park. 

The post-event refreshments venue is in the Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre. In 2019 the options were really limited, but the leisure centre is now managed by a different company and goes by the name Lampton Cafe. The menu has been improved and a PDF of it is available to download from the Lampton Leisure website. Should a familiar and reasonably-priced full breakfast be required, the closest Wetherspoons is over near Feltham station. On our first visit, we spent some time in the park exploring the playground before watching the Hanworth Airpark Model Flying Club flying their incredible model planes.


A huge thanks goes to all of the volunteers for making us feel welcome.
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